Amero's Court Date Delayed

March 28, 2007|By Courant Staff Report

As state officials face pressure to intervene, the sentencing of Norwich substitute teacher Julie Amero has been postponed until April 26.

Amero is facing up to 40 years in prison as a result of her Jan. 5 conviction on four counts of risk of injury to a minor. She was arrested after children at Kelly Middle School in Norwich saw pornography on a computer in a classroom where Amero was substituting in October of 2004.

She had been scheduled for sentencing Thursday.

No reason for the delay was filed with the clerk at Norwich Superior Court. New London State's Attorney Michael Regan, now involved in the case, declined to comment. Amero's lawyers also did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

The conviction has drawn international attention and ridicule from computer security experts who say Amero was a victim of ``malicious'' software that took over her computer and set off a stream of pornographic ``pop-up'' messages. During the trial, Assistant State's Attorney David Smith argued that Amero was guilty because she did not do enough to prevent some seventh-graders from glimpsing pornography.

Police, school and city officials have supported Amero's arrest and conviction. A spokesman said Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane had no comment Tuesday.